ENDING THE YEAR… Odds & ends (Part 167x)
Her greeting was then
followed by a laugh… at me. It was probably from the look of surprise on
my face. I’d seen any number of 'peeks' from Lynda but most were very
controlled. This was a WIDE open look… not just a sneak peek. It took a few seconds
to compose myself… in a number of ways. Lynda saw I was a bit
non-plussed and called to Stan that I was there. He had his back to the
scene that had just unfolded and by the time he turned around I think I
was somewhat calmer. The first thing he did was to apologize. At first I
didn’t know why but he went on that the Christmas party that had been
planned was canceled because one of the founding partners of the
brokerage firm had died and they didn’t feel it was appropriate to go forward
with it especially since it was scheduled on the same day as the
funeral. But, he went on that, in place of it, there would be a New Years Eve
party to be held at Michael’s, just across the street. The stock market
would close at 1pm so the party would begin soon thereafter. He
wanted to make sure I got the 'word' and would be there. The problem for me was that the bank
didn’t close early on New Years eve and would be open to the public, like normal,
until 3pm. I told him I’d try to be there as soon as I could. He then wished me
a Merry Christmas and turned and picked up his phone. Lynda, with her
desk right there, heard the invitation and told me I better show up…
closing it off with another big smile.
Walking back to the bank, I
still hadn’t eaten and was back to thinking about the sudden vacancy
that Woody’s resignation created. With a quick stop at the luncheonette
across from the bank, I had a sandwich of some sort that I munched on
while crossing the street. I swear I was paying attention when I heard a
horn blow and felt something brush by my thigh. Looking down, it was a
car making the turn… and partially up on the sidewalk. Because of the
crowds doing their last minute shopping there was a patrolman directing
traffic in the middle of the street. He’d seen the car and called out
asking if I were OK. Luckily, I was… just a bit shaken up. My heart was
pounding, for sure. I don’t know if the scare that the incident put into
me kicked my brain into high gear or not but by the time I was back at
my desk I had an idea that just might solve my vacancy problem in a number of ways.
If
you’ve been reading this tome for the past six months or so you know of
the problems with the new branch. I’ll by-pass Jerry and go to the core
of the problem… poor location. When the reality hit that it was not
going to be a rousing success a decision was made to cut expenses as
best we could and downsizing the staff was the only thing that could be
done. In so doing I had to let a very good, experienced teller go. She
was very disappointed as she had confessed to me that the job had been her
“dream job”. The reason… she lived but a few miles away. But,
with the high overhead of Jerry’s salary I had a very limited amount for
the others. The woman’s name was Rita and she had multiple years of
experience and actually took a bit of a pay cut to go to work with us.
That was how important living close to her home was to her. I talked
with Betsy, the head teller, fairly often and she’d kept me up to date
on what was happening with her. She’d let me know Rita had not yet
landed a full time job and was working during the Christmas season as a
clerk at the mall just down the road. But, the work would end on the
last day of the month. So… I sat down and rifled through my personal
file of employees, past and present, and found her telephone number. I
vowed to myself to keep calling until I could actually talk with her
even if it meant calling from home that night and on into the next day
which was Christmas Eve. By the time I was walking out the door I’d
talked myself into believing that I could convince her to commute the 20
or so miles. However, I didn’t pass my thoughts on to Bret, Trish or
Laurie. When Laurie had been doing the training for the new hires for the
branch she’d made an off-hand comment on Rita’s performance saying she
wished that she was going to be one of the main office tellers. On my way home I was
hoping that it might come true.
I got an answer at Rita’s house
at about 8pm. It was her husband and when I identified myself he didn’t
seem too happy. Her original hiring was far from smooth with both sides
compromising. Then, when it was decided that she was the one being let
go it definitely didn’t go well. I did make her one promise and that was
she would be the first one I’d call when things got better… thinking it
would be to work at the branch. It was clear that the man didn’t want
me to talk with his wife but I pleaded with him to let her make one call
to me. At first there was silence… for about 30 or so seconds… and then
I heard “OK”. At that point I told him that she could call when she got
home or in the morning. I didn’t get a response. Hanging the phone up I
didn’t know what to expect.
The funny thing is I didn’t know
what I was going to say or offer when and if she did call so I stayed up
after Elle went up to bed thinking about it. She, knowing that the next night was going
to be a very late one, probably not getting into bed until 3am, headed
up the stairs before 10pm. I was sitting in my recliner going over some
possible scenarios when the phone rang. I actually remembered her voice
(very much Neew Yaawk) but could hear the trepidation in it. It was
‘show time’ and I still didn’t know what I was going to say. My first
meaningful words to her were to ask if she remembered what the last
thing was that I’d told her. She hesitated but I didn’t. I reminded her
that she’d be offered the next vacancy the bank had. It really wasn’t
but she didn’t need to know that. I ‘couched’ the offer carefully by
saying we had an emergency at the main office and that if she’d be
willing to accept the offer we’d pay her more than what she was
paid at the branch. When I didn’t get a response I sweetened the offer
by offering to pay her travel money. There still wasn’t anything coming
forth from her. Then, from the deep recesses of my mind the thought of
the pending new branch came to the forefront. I honestly remember taking
a deep breath before telling her about the plans for the new branch and
that she’d be considered for the head teller position when it opened.
Of course, I had no authority to tell her about the branch or to offer
the head teller’s position when it opened. So… I sat there sort of
hoping she would turn it down. After what seemed like a long pause I
heard a somewhat curt “I’ll call you in the morning.” It was pretty much
a sleepless night.
Tuesday, being Christmas Eve, the kids were
‘hyper’. On top of that there were a lot of things to be done around the house because we
were hosting both families for Christmas dinner. There would be eleven
people with eight adults that had to fit around a table designed for
six. That, plus making room for the live Christmas tree in the living
room made for a busy morning. Elle could see I was preoccupied because
she had to keep reminding me of things that she’d asked me to do.
Waiting for anything can be frustrating but waiting for a telephone call
that you didn’t know if you really wanted or not was especially so. By
mid morning I’d rearranged the furniture to Elle’s liking and was about
to go outside to attach the stand for the Christmas tree when the phone
rang. The kids still liked to answer the phone and Elle had trained them
on how to do it. It was Anne who got there first and when she called
out that a Mrs. R was on the phone for me I hesitated for a few seconds
before moving in the direction of the hall and the phone.
To be continued…
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